"I love him and I want him to turn himself in and tell exactly what happened," Sharon Braymiller said.

Sedro-Woolley police were called to a home in the 1000 block of Township Street around 7 a.m. after getting a report that a child had been shot. When officers arrived, they found a 4-year-old boy fatally wounded in his back bedroom, and the gun's owner, 25-year-old Trevor J. Braymiller, nowhere to be found.

Initial reports Sunday morning said the boy had shot himself with a gun, Sedro-Woolley police Chief Doug Wood said, but after a medical examiner looked at the boy, it was determined that was not the case. Wood said investigators are treating the case as a homicide and the Skagit Valley Herald reports the county coroner planned to examine the boy's body Monday.

Trevor Braymiller is believed to be moving on foot, with officers from several law enforcement agencies chasing him. Wood described Braymiller as having "scruffy" facial hair and wearing a red or orange shirt.

On Sunday afternoon, officers were focusing the search on the Big Lake area, just south of the town, Wood said.

Investigators say a police dog found the gun believed used in the shooting at a nearby church, but Braymiller is still on the run. No shell casing was found at the scene, but there is one in the gun, indicating the gun misfired and didn't eject the shell, Lt. Lin Tucker said.

Braymiller's grandmother says she can't imagine he would purposely shoot the child, and imagines her grandson panicked.

"He's terrified he's going to prison," Sharon Braymiller said. "When the gun went off, he thought 'Oh, dear God!' And he ran because he knew he was going to prison. But he should never have run."

She's terrified this tragic story could turn even worse.

"We all think he's gonna be found dead," she said. "He didn't know what to do he saw this little boy laying on the floor and he thought 'Dear God, what have I done?' Even though accidental, 'What have I done?' "

Trevor Braymiller is a convicted felon for selling drugs and was not allowed to own a gun, but investigators think the gun used to kill the boy belonged to him.

"Is it possible? Yes and he knew he was not to have a gun," Sharon Braymiller said. "He knew he was out on probation and he was not to have a gun."

Police say only Trevor Braymiller can explain exactly what happened in that house, and his family is desperate for answers, too.

The boy's mother was questioned and is now with her family. No one in the house saw the shooting, Tucker said. Also in the house at the time was the boy's mother, a couple, another young man and a girl about 2 years old who was parented by the mother and Braymiller.

Anyone with information on Trevor Braymiller is asked to contact Sedro-Woolley police.